The coffin lid was slowly lifted, and a pair of white, soft hands with bright pink fingernails stretched out from the edge. One could vaguely see a woman in a bright red wedding dress lying inside through the gap in the coffin lid.
This woman was the same as the woman in the coffin in the temple. She had a veil covering her face and her upper body slightly raised. It was obviously impossible to see through the veil, but Mu Sicheng felt that the bride was spying on him and the situation in the pit through the veil.
The bride knocked on the coffin lid twice with her fingers, making a "thump, thump" sound.
The ghost dragging the coffin in front seemed to have received some instructions. It slowly turned its head, its eyes and mouth split open into gashes, and stared at Mu Sicheng, who was less than ten centimeters away from it, with its blood-red eyeballs. Then its bones suddenly began to twist and deform.
"We've been discovered—run!" Bai Liu crawled forward without hesitation.
At Bai Liu's command, Mu Sicheng and the accomplice ghost started to crawl about in a hurry.
Mu Sicheng was so scared that he cried for his parents and crawled forward frantically behind Bai Liu. Fortunately, the pit in this place was big enough that they could move forward in a half-crouching position, and their speed was much faster than before.
In the dark corridor, a ghost with pallid skin and twisted limbs rushed up. Its facial features and body were constantly changing and twisting, like a plaster statue being shaped.
Mu Sicheng looked back and was frightened out of his wits, moving even faster.
However, due to space limitations, Mu Sicheng, who was behind Bai Liu, couldn't outrun the ghost. When he was about to see the exit, Mu Sicheng was bitten on the ankle of his right foot by the ghost, which was crawling forward using all four limbs, and was dragged backward with a roar.
Mu Sicheng didn't even have time to utter a sound before he was dragged into the darkness by the ghost.
Bai Liu turned around and grabbed Mu Sicheng's hand, which was about to be dragged away. He bit his tongue and used his finger to draw a talisman on Mu Sicheng's wrist with the blood from his tongue. At the same time, he calmly chanted, "Thundering command, swift as a shooting star… ghosts shroud the body, spirits entwine the path, dividing yin and yang—disperse!"
Mu Sicheng's mind went blank. He immediately smeared the talisman that Bai Liu had drawn on his hand onto the ghost lying on top of him.
The talisman shook on Mu Sicheng's hand, emitting an invisible force and ripples, instantly separating Mu Sicheng and the evil ghost.
The ghost let out a shrill howl and wanted to rush over, but suddenly it stopped, turned its head about 360 degrees, and looked around for a while. The slits in its eyes and mouth slowly disappeared.
This ghost seemed to be unable to see Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng.
Mu Sicheng, who was clinging to the wall of the passage, didn't dare to breathe.
The ghost sniffed back and forth in the corridor several times, but it was as if there was an invisible air barrier between them, and it could not find them. So it lay on the ground again and crawled out.
Mu Sicheng sat on the ground, exhausted, gasping for breath. Holding the camera in a trance, he said, "Let's—let's go…"
Bai Liu took away Mu Sicheng's camera, then squatted down and tore Mu Sicheng's clothes. Using the light from the camera, he tied up Mu Sicheng's ankle, which was bitten and bleeding, and then paused subtly.
The teeth of that evil creature just now didn't look very clean. Will he get rabies if he gets bitten?
He remembered that if you don't get vaccinated against rabies within 24 hours, you'll die…
Mu Sicheng let out a long sigh, wiped the cold sweat from his face, and looked at Bai Liu. "What did you use to drive away the ghost just now?"
Bai Liu raised his eyes and glanced at Mu Sicheng. "There is a spell called the [Yin Yang Separation Talisman], which can separate the dead and the world of the living, leaving a road in the middle so that things standing on both sides of the road cannot touch each other."
Mu Sicheng couldn't help but complain, "If you had such a good thing, you should have taken it out earlier. If you had used it, we wouldn't have been chased like dogs…"
Bai Liu paused for a moment before speaking. "There are two types of [Yin Yang Separation Talisman]. One is the orthodox one, which is used to repel evil spirits and protect oneself. It can put the person who casts the Taoist spell in the world of the living and force the evil spirit to be repelled back to the underworld."
The expression on Mu Sicheng's face gradually became dull. "Could it be that yours is…"
Bai Liu looked at Mu Sicheng with pity. "Yes, mine is unorthodox. It is used to release evil spirits. It puts the evil spirits on the road to the living world, and the people who performed the Taoist spell will be trapped on the road to the underworld."
"So now we are trapped in the underworld."
Mu Sicheng suddenly turned his head and looked at the place where he had just used the talisman. He shone his camera over there and found that there was indeed a road-like mark left on the area.
The evil ghost just now had no way to cross this road.
Mu Sicheng limped over, not believing in unorthodox spells, and tried to walk out.
But soon Mu Sicheng discovered that he was just like that evil spirit. No matter how he tried to cross that road, he was still standing at his original location.
…He had never wished so much that he and that evil spirit could stand on the same land as he did now.
Mu Sicheng looked solemnly at the other end of the road, then turned back to look at Bai Liu. His eyes quickly filled with tears. "…[Yin Yang Separation Talisman], how can we break it?"
Bai Liu patted Mu Sicheng's shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay. The method to decipher this talisman is very simple."
"We just need to wait until twelve o'clock tonight. At that time, Yin and Yang converge, and this road will not be able to stop us. We can return to the world of the living again."
Mu Sicheng quickly looked down at the time and half smiled, and half cried. "…It's okay. There are only twelve hours until midnight."
"As long as we can get through these twelve hours safely, we can go back when it gets dark."
Bai Liu's eyes wandered for a moment. "Yeah."
It is said that after being bitten by a strange animal, the first twelve hours are the golden time to get a rabies vaccine…
Hopefully, the ghost doesn't have rabies.
The corridor gradually became as high as a person, and Bai Liu could walk upright, but Mu Sicheng still had to lower his head slightly.
Mu Sicheng lowered his head, glanced at the back of Bai Liu's head, and muttered softly, "…I just thought you wouldn't save me."
With Bai Liu's retreat speed, he didn't even look back from beginning to end.
"I wasn't going to save you at first," Bai Liu spoke very frankly. He glanced at Mu Sicheng out of the corner of his eye. "But didn't you save me, too? You helped me block the bite, so you got bitten."
Mu Sicheng snorted, and for some reason, he perked up again. "You have a conscience."
Bai Liu retracted his gaze. "I can't say I have a conscience, but I am a person who keeps his word."
The mud-filled passage gradually revealed its original appearance. The dry mud on the walls peeled off, and the wet soil on the ground turned into a sticky liquid like muddy water, making a sloshing sound as Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng walked.
The originally irregularly shaped passage became a more regular rectangle, about one meter wide and two meters high. Although it was wider than before, it was still very narrow, and two people walking side by side would feel a little cramped.
Bai Liu raised his head and looked around, then stretched out his hand to compare. "This is about the size that a coffin can stand upright and pass through."
Mu Sicheng felt a chill run down his spine. "Can you change the quantifier?"
Bai Liu thought for a moment. "This passage can accommodate one and a half people."
Mu Sicheng: "…"
Thanks, I'm even more scared now.
After walking for nearly three hours, the exit of the passage finally appeared in front of them.
It was a pitch-black, double-opening stone tomb door. On one side stood a stone sculpture of the Three Pure Ones with glaring eyes and threatening gestures. The stone door was not completely closed, but left a gap for one person to enter and exit.
Bai Liu turned on the flashlight and shone it toward the stone door. "There are no signs of it being forcibly opened from the outside, nor any signs of damage. It should have been opened naturally."
Mu Sicheng pointed his camera at the tomb door and frowned as he asked, "Shouldn't this kind of ancient tomb door be welded shut? Can it open naturally?"
Bai Liu walked sideways through the tomb door. He raised the flashlight and turned to look at both sides of the tomb door. "It was opened from the inside."
There were two lifting buttons on the left and right sides of the inner side of the tomb door. The strings under the buttons were connected to the stone door. It was a very simple device. You could tell at a glance that pressing it could open the door.
Mu Sicheng's heart skipped a beat when he saw this. He swallowed hard. "…Shit, why do we have to open the button of the tomb door from the inside when repairing it? There are only dead people in the tomb. How can they come out by themselves?!"
Bai Liu raised his flashlight and looked around. Hearing this, he answered casually, "That can only mean that the person who built the tomb knew when he was building it that the dead bodies would be able to open the tomb door and come out by themselves after many years."
After looking around, Bai Liu took out two red candles, two candlesticks, and a box of matches from his backpack. These things were all picked up by Bai Liu from the temple altar this morning.
Bai Liu fixed the candles on the candlesticks, handed one to Mu Sicheng, and then lit them with a match.
Mu Sicheng hung the camera around his neck, took the candlestick, and looked at Bai Liu in confusion. "Are we going to use candles next? The lighting effect won't be good, right?"
"It's not just the lighting effect." Bai Liu walked in holding the candlestick. The flickering flame on the candlestick was tinged with a strange green color.
Bai Liu explained calmly, "Do you remember where we are?"
Mu Sicheng looked at the cramped surroundings around him and asked, "In the tomb?"
Bai Liu glanced at Mu Sicheng and said, "Not only are we in the tomb, but we are also on the road to the underworld."
"In the underworld, you can't tell the difference between the living and the dead with a light without fire. Just like a flashlight or a camera can't tell whether the person is a human or a ghost. You have to use a light with fire, like a candle."
"So here, those who can cast shadows from the candle are human, and those who can't are ghosts."
Mu Sicheng was horrified. "No, aren't you and I the only humans here? Do we need candles to identify us?"
Bai Liu held up a candle, and the candlelight illuminated his profile, making it flicker. He could not see any signs of a living person at all. Bai Liu looked at Mu Sicheng without any expression on his face. "How do you know I'm a human? What if I'm not?"
Mu Sicheng was startled. He subconsciously took a step back and shone a candle on Bai Liu. He heaved a sigh of relief when he found that Bai Liu could cast a shadow on the wall. He said angrily, "Stop playing tricks on me!"
Bai Liu turned around and walked forward. "I'm not kidding you. Ghosts have the ability to change their appearances. What if the person you meet is not me, but a ghost that has taken on my appearance? How can you identify it without candles?"
"Additionally, 'the mountain ghost blows out the light.' On the one hand, it means that a ghost may have appeared and blown out your lamp. On the other hand, it means that the oxygen content around you may not be enough to keep the candle burning."
Mu Sicheng got goosebumps from Bai Liu's words. "What if the candle really goes out?"
"No big deal." Bai Liu said calmly, "This is the underworld, the territory of ghosts. We're lucky if we can live a little longer. What else do you want to do?"
"If a ghost really comes to blow out your candle, just let it do what it wants. That way you can hold on a little longer…"
Before Bai Liu finished speaking, Mu Sicheng clearly saw a pair of small hands made of oil paper holding Bai Liu's shoulders, and a paper-made human face poked out from the darkness behind him.
The paper figure was as white as flour, with two dots of bright red rouge the size of a child's fist on both cheeks. It wore a red agate melon-shaped hat and a dark blue long gown, a joyful smile painted on its face.
Mu Sicheng seemed to hear two sinister laughs coming from the paper man. He watched as the paper man stretched its head out from Bai Liu's shoulder and blew at the candle that Bai Liu was holding.
At the same time, Mu Sicheng heard the sound of paper rubbing behind him. A pair of oil-paper hands covered his eyes, and something rode on his shoulders, letting out a shrill laugh.
Soon, the candle held by Mu Sicheng also went out.
The tomb was plunged into pitch-black darkness.